Monday, May 11, 2020

Mystery and religion

Given what we have learned from science and philosophy, fundamental aspects of the world are mysterious and verge on contradiction: photons are waves and particles; light from the headlamp on a fast train goes at the same speed relative to the train and relative to the ground; objects persist while changing; we should not murder but we should redirect trolleys; etc. Basically, when we think deeper, things start looking strange, and that’s not a sign of us going right. There are two explanations of this, both of which are likely a part of the truth: reality is strange and our minds are weak.

It seems not unreasonable to expect that if there were a definitive revelation of God, that revelation would also be mysterious and verge on contradiction. Of the three great monotheistic religions, Christianity with the mystery of the Trinity is the one that fits best with this expectation. At the same time, I doubt that this provides much of an argument for Christianity. For while it is not unreasonable to expect that God’s revelation would be paradoxical, it is a priori a serious possibility that God’s revelation might be so limited that what was revealed would not be paradoxical. And it would also be a priori a serious possibility that while creation is paradoxical, God is not, though this last option is a posteriori unlikely given what we learn from the mystical experience traditions found in all the three monotheistic religions.

So, I am not convinced that there is a strong argument for Christianity and against the other two great monotheistic religions on the grounds that Christianity is more mysterious. But at least there is no argument against Christianity on the basis of its embodying mysteries.

2 comments:

  1. Thing in itself is not open to reason to Kant. [God, the soul, space, time] That provides and answer for Christianity. However then to what does reason work for? Things in the area of conditions of possible experience.
    With Fries and Leonard Nelson however there is knowledge by means of faith not senses nor reason. Hegel would not agree but rather we can know about God by His own revelation, not by our reason.

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  2. Islamic religion is the most obscure religion and home to Sufism, and there is a large amount of worship in the Islamic religion full of secrets that the mind does not realize, and the mystery is not found in other religions

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